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Edward O. Thorp

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:04:52 +0000

Edward Oakley Thorp is widely regarded, by professional players as well as the general public, as the Father of Card Counting. It was in his book, Beat the Dealer, first published in 1962, that he presented his Ten-Count system, the first powerful winning blackjack system ever made available to the public. All card-counting systems in use today are variations of Thorp’s Ten-Count.

When Thorp’s book became a best seller, the Las Vegas casinos attempted to change the standard rules of blackjack, but their customers would not accept the changes and refused to play the new version of the game. So, the Vegas casinos went back to the old rules, but switched from dealing hand-held one-deck games to four-deck shoe games, a change that the players would accept. Unfortunately for the casinos, in 1966 Thorp’s revised second edition of Beat the Dealer was published. This edition presented the High-Low Count, as developed by Julian Braun, a more powerful and practical counting system for attacking these new shoe games.

In 1961, Thorp and C. Shannon jointly invented the first wearable computer, a device that successfully predicted results in roulette. Thorp has an M.A. in Physics and a Ph.D. in mathematics, and has taught mathematics at UCLA, MIT, NMSU, and U.C. Irvine, where he also taught quantitative finance. For many years Ed Thorp wrote a column for the now-defunct Gambling Times magazine. Many of these columns were collected in a book titled The Mathematics of Gambling, published in 1984 by Lyle Stuart.

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Stanford Wong

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:04:49 +0000

Stanford Wong self-published his first book, Professional Blackjack, in 1975. It was later published by the Gambler’s Book Club in Las Vegas, then revised and expanded numerous times and published by Wong’s own company, Pi Yee Press.

Wong is widely regarded as one of the sharpest analysts of systems and methods for beating the casinos. In Professional Blackjack, he described a never-before-revealed table-hopping style of playing shoe games, a method of play now known as wonging. Professional Blackjack had a profound impact on serious players because it provided card counters with an easy yet powerful method for attacking the abundant four-deck shoe games that had taken over Las Vegas. Many pros still think of card-counting opportunities as “pre-Wong” and “post-Wong.”

In his second book, Blackjack in Asia-a book priced at $2,000 and one of the rarest gambling books sought by collectors today – Wong discusses the unique blackjack games he had discovered in Asian casinos as a professional player, along with the optimum strategies he had devised for beating them. The book also included underground advice for exchanging currencies in these countries on the black market, as well as an account of his own hassles with customs officials when he attempted to leave the Philippines with his winnings. Of all of Wong’s books, this is my personal favorite, as it reveals more of his anti-establishment personality than any of his later books.

In 1980, Wong published Winning Without Counting, priced at $200, and again, on a personal note, this is my second favorite book by Wong (and another collector’s item if you can find one). He not only discusses many hole card techniques that had never before been mentioned in print-s-front-loading, spooking, and warp play-but he also delved into many clearly illegal methods of getting an edge over the house, including various techniques of bet-capping, card switching, card mucking, etc. He was widely criticized by those in the casino industry for the amusing way in which he discussed and analyzed such techniques, but anyone with half a brain could see that he was merely informing players with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.

Wong subsequently published Tournament Blackjack (1987), Basic Blackjack (1992), Casino Tournament Strategy (1992), Blackjack Secrets (1993), and since 1979 has published various newsletters including Current Blackjack News, aimed at serious and professional players.

Mr. Stanford Wong is a life legend of blackjack and we highly recommend his website http://www.bj21.com/ to anyone seriously interested in blackjack game.

Exercising for weight loss effectively

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:53:58 +0000

Wasting your time on the most effective and popular diet programs doesn’t make much sense in the long term as long as you don’t employ an effective exercise program to maintain and cement the achieved results. The best way you can lose weight once and for all is combining a special weight-loss diet with an intense exercise schedule, which will prevent the fat, you have burned while being on the diet, from coming back once you finish your special regimen.

It may be frustrating and stressful to employ and intense exercise program for people who never had much physical activity in the past. The best way to avoid this problem is to start with something less rigorous, such as jogging or walking. These activities will prepare your body for more intense exercises and when you feel you are ready, you can use the following tips to make your weight loss really effective:

Go to the gym

You will find a local gym in most communities, which are either free or have discounts for locals. In case you have a little extra money you may want to hire a personal trainer, who will help develop your program and will make sure that you perform all the exercises in the right fashion. But remember, jumping into the most intense training program will do you only harm. Start with something less intense and add up to the program as you progress.

Become more active in your daily routine

If you have a low activity lifestyle, sitting at the desk for 8 hours and doing nothing but going from home to work and back, you should change this routine as soon as possible. If you live not far from your work, walk instead of driving, take the staircase to your office instead of the elevator. Occupy your free time with swimming or cycling instead of watching TV or hanging out at the bar. Having a dog will ease the situation, as your pet will be a good push for a more active lifestyle.

Stretch every now and then

Stretching is a good way to keep your body in good shape, especially when you have no time or possibility to go to the gym on a regular basis. Practices like tai chi and yoga are good for stretching out your body and keeping muscles fit, and they don’t require anything more then your bedroom or a quite corner at your office. You can also reduce stress with these techniques.

Take an appetite suppressant

If your doctor finds it safe for you to take such medications as Phentermine hcl then you should give them a try. Phentermine is an appetite suppressant that will reduce your food cravings and make you eat less. This way both your diet and exercise will be way more effective, especially if you are aiming for fast weight loss.

Drink lots of water

This is very important for making your exercises safe. When you burn fat during exercise it is expelled from the body in the form of sweat, dehydrating all of your organs and tissues at a rapid phase. That’s why it is crucial to drink a lot of water. Besides, it’s very good for increasing your metabolism rates, which will allow more effective fat burning.

Don’t forget about consistency

It is probably the most important aspect of any weight loss program that people forget about too often. No matter how effective a diet or exercise is, the most important thing is to employ them regularly. There are no single-shot solutions that will allow you to eat as much junk food you want after you’re done. If you don’t want to see all that burned fat come back again, be consistent with your weight loss program and buy Phentermine if you feel that you can’t control your appetite.

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Buy levitra for erectile dysfunction, never natural products

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:26:54 +0000

Governments around the world are finally waking up to an increasingly dangerous business and the police are moving in to close down factories and warehouses, seizing raw materials and finished products, helping to keep the world a safer place. Except this is like wack a mole. Let’s see how the whole scam works. There are millions of people with access to the internet who lack confidence in their sexual performance. This is not limited to men. There are just as many websites selling to women. The only change to the marketing language is that “erectile dysfunction” becomes “female sexual dysfunction”. All these sites claim to sell “natural” products. The reason for this is to avoid regulation. In most countries, anyone who wants to sell a medication must get a license. This involves clinical trials to prove the drug is both safe and effective. But the sale of “natural” products is usually unregulated. So unscrupulous businesses spring up claiming their product is all natural. If you are lucky, the pills or emulsion contain nothing more than colored chalk or something equally inactive. Sadly, businesses never make any money by selling ineffective medications. On the internet, word-of-mouth quickly identifies the fakes. This puts the pressure on businesses to come up with a product that either does what it claims or has an obvious effect on people who take it. That way, the product appears more real and gets credit on the forum and chat sites.

The Malaysian police force deployed some 200 officers in more than twenty different locations. They were shutting down the local distribution of Extrewoman and Extremen. Both were marketed as containing only natural proteins, but with the power to boost sexual performance. Yet, when they were analysed, both contained more than three times the chemicals representing the standard safe maximum dosages for the conventional erectile dysfunction drugs. Selling such excessive doses of male drugs as a treatment for women is dangerous and has caused injury to a number of woman with cardiovascular disease. Similarly, selling tablets to men without warning, each containing three times the standard dose of an erectile dysfunction drug, is dangerous. Suppose a man took three or four tablets at once. This is likely to cause a sudden and potentially dangerous drop in blood pressure. Untreated, this could be fatal.

The exploitation of people experiencing sexual difficulties is being taken up by criminal gangs. They only care about the profit from their operations. They have no interest in the safety of the people who buy and take their products. The most recent raids in Malaysia are part of a concerted pattern to crack down on this dangerous market but, so great is the problem, that this enforcement action is not effective. New supplies of ever more cleverly advertized products keep coming on to the market. At your end of the internet, never buy any “natural” supplement or dietary product claiming to provide treatment for erectile dysfunction. You should only buy levitra or one of the other recognized drugs from one of our recommended online pharmacies. Failure to follow this simple rule could result in you taking a cocktail of random chemicals and risking your health. You have seen the deaths from melamine in Chinese milk and the poisoned cooking oil in Spain. When online, only buy levitra from sources you know and trust. That way you stay safe, get the erections you deserve and put the criminal gangs out of business.

Keith Taft

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:11:46 +0000

Keith is not well known to the general public, but among professional players he is revered as an electronics genius who has spent more than thirty years devising high-tech equipment-computers, video cameras, and communication devices-to beat the casinos. Blackjack was his initial target, and always remained his prime target. His first blackjack computer, which he completed in 1972, weighed fifteen pounds. Over the years, as computer chip technology developed, his computers became smaller, faster, and lighter. By the mid-1970s, he had a device that weighed only a few ounces that could play perfect strategy based on the exact cards remaining to be dealt. If it were up to Keith, his son Marty’s name would be right along his in the Blackjack Hall of Fame, as the two have worked as partners since Marty was a teenager. For thirty years they have jointly created ever-more-clever hidden devices to beat the casinos, trained teams of players in their use, and have personally gone into the casinos to get the money. Keith and Marty may, in fact, have literally invented the concept of computer “networking,” as they were wiring computer-equipped players together at casino blackjack tables thirty years ago in their efforts to beat the games. When Nevada outlawed devices in 1985, it was specifically as a result of a Taft device found on Keith’s brother, Ted-a miniature video camera built into Ted’s belt buckle that could relay an image of the dealer’s hole card as it was being dealt to a satellite receiving dish mounted in a pickup truck in the parking lot, where an accomplice read the video image, then signaled Ted at the table with the information he needed to play his hand. An in-depth interview with Keith and Marty Taft was published in the Winter 2003-04 Blackjack Forum, and is available in the BlackjackForumOnline.com Library.

Casino games offered on Chatroulette

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:51:46 +0000

One of the fascinating things about the internet is the speed with which some new sites take off. One minute, you have this tiresome start-up calling itself Facebook, the next everyone has an account. In this context, the rise (and rise) of Chatroulette is all the more exciting. We’ve all been chatting and skyping for so long we can’t remember. Webcams have been standard pieces of kit, turning up to allow machine-to-machine video conferencing and to show all kinds of interesting activities when they are planted in unexpected places. So adding in the gambling element completes the picture (as it were). At one level, you could describe the site as your chance to meet new people, except these people could be doing absolutely anything when random chance connects you. In a conventional world, everyone participating would sit calmly in front of their PCs, wearing all their clothes and a welcoming smile. Unfortunately, the randomness and anonymity of the system encourages people to slide towards pornography or voyeurism depending on your inclinations. A remarkable number of people seem prepared to get naked and show off their genitals, or dress up as animals or apparently conduct weird social experiments by giving viewers curious instructions. It’s the more sane people who hit the news. Ben Folds has been singing us songs, and a new celebrity is running a primitive gambling scam.

Chance can now connect you to a live dealer offering roulette and blackjack. If you are inclined to play, our mystery croupier gives you his PayPal address and, with a deposit made, the game of your choice begins. You can play for as long as you like. If luck is not with you, topping up the PayPal account is quick and easy. But something that should be not unexpected happens if you tire of this amateurish show and ask for your winnings. The croupier reaches for the “Next” button and disappears from your screen. OK, so let’s take two steps back. You were prepared to part with your money to a complete stranger. Well, now’s your chance to learn all about the PayPal contract. You have a record of the payment(s) made so, in theory, you can get your money back. Although you will look a fool, you could also report this sad episode to your local law enforcement agencies. They would be delighted to spend time tracking down this guy. But there’s a much more interesting question to ask.

The majority of jurisdictions around the world regulate gambling. Online casinos must have a licence. So, Chatroulette is allowing someone to run casino games without a licence. In many jurisdictions, this could make Andrey Ternovskiy, Chatroulette’s owner, liable to one or more criminal offenses. If our mystery croupier’s activities are small scale and PayPal is able to recover most of the money paid into his various accounts, it’s unlikely any country will take action against Chatroulette or its owner. But if the volume of pornography rises, the police might get increasingly interested in trying to shut the site down which would also take down these unofficial online casino games and the scammer behind them. There does come a point when, for better or worse, governments step in and take down some of the fun sites. Politicians and moral guardians never seem to have a sense of humor about anything.

How will live dealing affect online casinos?

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:27:03 +0000

Whichever time you look at, there has always been gambling. For example, there is evidence of keno, dice and mahjong being played in Ancient China from 2,000 B.C. onward. Different forms of gaming were also a popular pastime in the other major ancient civilizations of India, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. Despite attempts to ban or control gambling because of its addictive nature, it has persisted until today. Sometimes it went underground, while other governments allowed commercialisation. Throughout, gambling has been seen as a social activity. The rich would gather in each others palaces and mansions to play or attend exclusive clubs. The poor would flock to “dens of iniquity” which were often run by criminal gangs tied into the worlds of prostitution and street drugs. This history is one long transfer of wealth from one individual to another. Before regulation, it was usually the criminal gangs that became rich. After regulation, those in positions of power took their commissions while governments subsidized the taxpayers through levies and taxes. But there was one constant thread. Whether you were an aristocrat lounging in a casino in an exclusive spa town in Europe or panning for gold in the 1840′s and 50′s, the majority of games depended on live dealing or the supervision of the betting by an employee of the House. In the more modern clubs and casinos, the dealers and croupiers have often been beautiful women, dressed attractively. In their own right, they were part of the attraction of the “place”. The men would come, leaving their wives at home, to lose their money while ogling the girls.

Then along came the internet. There is nothing wrong with the quality of the graphics, animation and soundtrack. In most cases, they represent a brave attempt to create an experience similar to a real-world casino. But players can never suspend disbelief. They continue to sit at home or nursing their laptops in a hotspot with their attention fixed on a small screen. Nothing can replace the smell, noise and crush of people in a casino. Except, as the technology has matured and bandwidth improved, online casinos have begun to introduce live dealers for a range of your favorite casino games. This has two advantages. Many people prefer to avoid the random number generators that drive the software versions of the games. RGNs are too perfect. They feel it is better to gamble where human beings shuffle the packs or spin the wheels because human beings make mistakes and are inefficient. Secondly, animations only go so far. Even though it is a small screen, a live video feed of a sexy lady dealing blackjack or running a roulette table brings in the business.

Live dealing has been increasingly common on sites serving Europe but the first online casinos in the US are now recruiting live dealers and launching their own service. You can only go so far to compete on animation and welcome bonuses. Web cameras are cheap and not much of a studio is required to create interactive play between dealer and you sitting at home. With your favorite casino games now coming to you live, the pressure will be on the majority of the other casinos to innovate ad improve the interface and user experience. As bandwidth improves, your gaming experience will improve.

Should lawmakers ban smoking in casinos?

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:53:58 +0000

This site is not Libertarian but we know what we like about gambling and the experience of going into casinos. While we can all approve of regulations to keep gambling reasonably honest and fair, there comes a point when enough is enough with the lawmaking. Let’s take the issue of smoking as an example. Most of us probably believe the science linking tobacco with fatal diseases. Whether you smoke or draw in the smoke second-hand, the risks of cancer and heart disease are even admitted by the tobacco industry. So, on New Year, we all repeat our resolution not to start or to quit. It’s all down to us – a personal decision. If we do decide to smoke, this is a “victimless crime”. No-one is forcing us to do this and it should not be for the law to get involved in making any part of smoking a crime. There are no laws criminalising overeating even though the obese die younger, or threatening to put alcoholics in jail because they are damaging their livers. People own their own bodies and should be allowed to do what they want with it.

So what do we make of all these laws banning or restricting smoking in public places? There are no federal laws. It all comes down to the lawmakers in each state. Some have fairly comprehensive laws restricting smoking in the workplace. Others go on to include some bars and restaurants. But, so far, most states have avoided any kind of restrictions on the operation of casinos. The consensus view has been to avoid anything that might reduce the revenue from gambling operations. As the recession has taken hold and the tax-take from conventional businesses has fallen, maintaining the flow on money into the state coffers has become even more important. So far, the need for money has outweighed the health concerns. After all, no-one forces people to go to a casino. If you are not a smoker and want to avoid passive smoking, do not go to a casino.

Based on the experience in Atlantic City which went through a two-week ban on smoking, casino operators estimate their gross revenues would drop by more than one-third. Where would these gamblers go to play blackjack? There are two obvious alternatives. The Tribal casinos stand outside state laws on smoking, and people can always stay home to gamble online. There are no laws to restrict what people do in the privacy of their own homes. We could also get into a kind of bidding war where some states with high costs on the healthcare front may clamp down on smoking only to find their own citizens drive into neighboring states to play there. That’s a double whammy because the lawmaking states lose tax revenue and still have the health costs of treating their citizens who fall ill because of their smoking. There should be federal legislation to replace this current patchwork of different laws. Health is a national priority. Washington should decide the limits on what people should do in public places. As it is, drinking and smoking goes with casino games just like turkey goes with Thanksgiving. Breaking the link is going to make one set of lawmakers really unpopular. Shall we bet on whether federal laws are introduced?

Tramadol and other types of painkillers

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:14:47 +0000

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are one of the most commonly used types of pain relieving medicines. Classified as non-narcotic medicines, such pain killers simultaneously reduce inflammation and irritation, relieve from pain, and may as well be employed to reduce fevers. Of course, these types of pain relieving medicines do possess a certain side effect, which is that they reduce the blood flow. This might result in blood clotting and troubles for individuals, who might have low blood pressure and those who are about to take a surgery. Most individuals, who prepare to go for surgery, are told to not take any types of these pain killers for several weeks before the surgery, so that the blood could thicken back up after the procedure. Some of the most common types of medicines in this pain killer category include ibuprofen and aspirin.

There are a lot of various painkillers. Let’s take a closer look at one of them – Acetaminophen. This medicine is based on Paracetamol. Most frequently it is labeled as Tylenol. This medicine works pretty similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, working simultaneously as a fever reducer and a pain killer. The general difference between these two is that Acetaminophen does not have the anti-inflammatory function, on the contrary to NSAIDs. Acetaminophen is not advised to people, who have liver disease and those, who are heavy drinkers. It is suggested that in case you have more than two drinks during the day, you should visit a doctor for consultation, before you decide to take this kind of non prescription pain killer. Acetaminophen, or paracetamol, is frequently found in most of non prescription pain killers, so you should pay really close attention to this matter.

Talking of narcotics, we may say that these drugs are the most powerful and effective pain killers that physicians could ever prescribe. The majority of narcotic pain killers influences the brain and central nervous system directly and must only be taken with a physician’s prescription or even superintendence.

There are three general types of narcotic pain killers.

- Natural narcotic pain killers. These are kinds of pain killers that are made directly from opium, and might comprise codeine and morphine. These pain killers are usually employed in post-surgical medications.
- Semi-synthetic narcotic pain killers. These pain killers are those that are partially human made and partially natural. They include a number of chemicals and natural elements. They might comprise hydrocodone, oxycodone, and even heroin.
- Synthetic narcotic pain killers. These are absolutely synthetic opioids, which might include such drugs like Fentanyl and Sufentanil. This class of pain killers also includes a large list of derivations.

Narcotic pain killers have a hazardous tendency to form habits, which results patients that take them to be strictly supervised by their doctors. Narcotic pain killers should not be taken without strict clinical supervision.

There is also a type of prescription pain killer, which is not as hazardous, but is very effective – Tramadol. It is a centrally-acting pain killer, employed for relieving from moderate moderately severe pains. This pain killer has a broad range of application, which includes treatment for acid reflux, fibermyosis and restless leg syndrome. It is very easy to buy Tramadol nowadays, but you have to be certain to get your doctor’s prescription for it. As a matter of fact online Tramadol is the best solution for your savings. However, a visit to your physician is critical, since the drug’s side effects aren’t something you’d want to undergo.

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Cialis and age – can you enjoy sex for longer?

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:36:55 +0000

In The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Murial Spark, we are allowed the privilege of an insight into the world of young women, supposedly before they enter their prime. A part of the fascination is their great curiosity about sex, but their equal revulsion at the thought of actually doing it, particularly when they get older. As young people with firm and, depending on the viewer, potentially beautiful bodies, there is something “off-putting” about the development of wrinkles. Written sixty years ago, it explores how sexual relationships development in a more strongly puritanical culture just recovering from World War II. Life expectancy was still relatively short with people seeming to age faster and give up on sex earlier. Coming into modern times, the culture of puritanism is still with us and the original narrative would now be viewed through the lens of pedophilia. But one basic truth remains. People of all ages remain sexual animals when they have the chance. Whether older people continue to have that chance is often the source of bitter recrimination and anger. Such is the price we all pay when we toy with each others emotional expectations.

This March sees an interesting article published in the BMJ. It reports the results of two surveys with about 6,000 participants, undertaken in the US, to explore whether older people continue to enjoy sex. The first conclusion is gender-related. Older men were more likely to claim continuing sexual success than women. This was most pronounced in the over 75 years group. But, what is equally clear is that the probability of being able to engage in sexual activity is decided by opportunity. Both genders reported higher levels of sexual activity if they were married or had a regular partner available. All this was, of course, subject to the issue of health. People reporting the best levels of health and strength had sex more often than those whose physical condition made sex more challenging. Why should this matter? Well, as life expectancy inches ever higher, the quality of life we can look forward to as seniors will be affected by our ability to continue sexual activity. Indeed, there is very good evidence to show that happy people have better health and live longer. Thus, as a matter of public policy, the US should be earmarking resources to maintain sexual activity in the aging population.

As it stands, very few doctors have any interest or expertise in sex for seniors. Even when men come into the surgery to complain about erectile dysfunction, the routine (and unthinking) reaction is to write out a prescription for cialis. As the Boomers enter their prime, their expectations should be met. No matter how good cialis (and it is very good at maintaining sexual ability in older men), there should be detailed counseling and support for both married and unmarried couples to help them maintain active sex lives. This is particularly important for women. The development of the erectile dysfunction drugs has left them marginalized. They deserve better. If big government cannot spend money on training the medical profession to deal with this, perhaps the capitalists will see a money-making opportunity to bring couples together and help them develop active lives. Younger people might find the idea of seniors dating unsettling, but there’s a real need for sympathetic services to encourage older people to find happiness and live more fulfilled lives.